Sliver can and drive means therefor



Oct. 29, 1968 c. o. KINSLER SLIVER CAN AND DRIVE MEANS THEREFOR Filed March 24, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 42 M I 1?) y /A/vis/vroxz,"

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C. O. KINSLER Oct. 29, 1968 SLIVER CAN AND DRIVE MEANS THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' Filed March 24, 19 66 Qm. Q on Na 4 tw% w Y Rm. 3m 0m ma Q 4 wm Q% 3 j E K N l EA 7' 0/2. 6212mm 0 KINSEK a A770 EV United States Patent 1 1 3,407,447 I SLIVER CAN AND DRIVE MEANS THEREFOR Carlton 0. Kinsler, Rte. 5, Box 279, Upson County,

near Thomaston, Ga. 30286 Filed Mar. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 543,448 2 Claims. (Cl. 19 159) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure includes a coiler head for textile slivers and a base beneath the coiler head, the base having arcuate portions forming a generally semi-circular shaped enclosure for enclosing a sliver can positioned beneath the coiler head. ,The sliver cans used in this invention have gear rings around the lower exterior portion thereof and are mounted on casters so that they can be readily wheeled into and out of the enclosing base. A pinion type gear extends within the semicircular shaped enclosure and when a can is pushed into the enclosing base, the pinion gear and the gear ring of the can engage. The pinion gear is driven and transmits rotation to the can through the gear ring. Means are provided to resiliently urge the can (and its gear ring) into engagement with the pinion gear yet permit ready removal of the can from the enclosing base.

This invention relates to a sliver can and drive means therefor and particularly to such an arrangement wherein the sliver can rotates as the sliver is coiled therein, rather than the can remaining stationary, and the sliver can may be inserted and removed from the drive means without lifting same.

Sliver cans of this sort'are used in the textile trade and in such operations as carding, drawing or combing.

Conventional sliver can operations in textile plants and other places involve the manual moving of the cans by liftingsame for placement or removal at least several inches to place it on top of the base. Large sliver cans when full, can weigh upwards of 100 pounds and the handling time for doffing and moving cans is a significant factor in production of the coileritself. In fact, some manufacturers have'gone to large coilers principally to reduce handling timefor doffing and moving cans [0 reduce the piecing time. As the efficiency and speed of other machines, such as-the carding frames and drawing frames, have increased or become more productive, the output. sometimes has been so great that the sliver cans are not placed and removed fast enough. Production is watched closely and eflficiency is importanLThe present invention relates to increasing the efiiciency or production of the coilers by reducing the dofiing time and also by decreasing the amount of physical effort required to doff and replace sliver cans. a

Generally described, without restriction on-the scope Of'my invention as defined by the appended claims, it is well to understand. initially. as mentioned-at the outset that in the present arrangement the sliver can rotates and coils the sliver -in-conjunction with conventional coiler heads whichdeliverand layethe sliver in the can.

The present sliver can includes part of the drive mechanism as .the based the can which may be removable and on which is mountedany number of caster wheels or suitable wheel means. The coilerincludes the usual 3,407,447 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 coiler head and stand which has a base and a vertical post. The head transfers and delivers the sliver into the moving can which is rotated by means of a drive arrangement including a drive gear on the semi-circular base which meshes with a large driven :gear around the base of the present sliver can. Suitable power drive means including power shaft, matching pinion gears, and driving gears into semi-circular base operate to drive the sliver can. The can is inserted on the semi-circular base by wheeling it into position and pushing the driven gear of the can base against the driving gear of the semi-circular coiler base. Engagement is secured by means'of toggle pressure devices or other suitable means and alignment rollers. The sliver can is the usual large cylindrical can which normally rests on and is fitted to the base of the present sliver can arrangement but is removable therefrom. Insertion of the can is accomplished simply by wheeling the can into position and doffing is accomplished simply by manually pushing the can with its wheeled base away from the base of the coiler.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a sliver can and coiler combination wherein the sliver can is wheeled and driven by a disengageable drive means on the base.

Another object of this invention resides ment whereby the sliver cans may be placed and doffed without lifting same from the floor.

Still another object of this invention resides in the particular arrangement of a sliver can and sliver can base on which is mounted wheels and a driven means whereby the can is rotated.

Still another object of this invention resides in the arrangement of the drive means on thecoiler and the open base which receives the driven sliver can and base.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a coiler arrangement wherein the head delivers and lays the sliver in any conventional manner and the base includes a drive means which cooperates with a driven means on the can bottom. a

. Another object of this invention is to provide a coiler and sliver can wherein the can may be positioned on the. can drive of the coiler hose without lifting the can from the floor.

Other and further objects and advantages of my invention will become a'pp'arent'upon reading the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: I

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the coiler of the present invention with a portion of the sliver can and sliver can base in position therein to be driven and with the sliver can shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the bottom of the sliver can and base. I

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the coiler drive and sliver can with driven base and with portions of the housing removed to expose the drive arrangement.

FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of the semi-circular coiler drive base with a portion of the sliver can base inserted therein and with parts broken away toshow the drive arrangement. 1 4

Referring to the following specification in connection with the drawings, it should be noted at the outset that the present coiler, unlike other well known coilers, does not include the entire can drive mechanism in the coiler itself since'in the instant arrangement the driven part of in the arrangethe can drive mechanism is on the bottom of the sliver can and may be in the form of a detachable base or the like. Therefore, the usual coiler base canta'ble found in the prior art coilers is not found in the present invention wherein there is a drive combination between the coiler base drive and the can drive means rather than by a rotating cantable which in the prior art performs the function of turning the sliver can. In the present invention the sliver is delivered from any known sliver coiler head feed which is also the function of the present coiler head.

The combined arrangement of the coiler drive and the sliver can is referred generally herein by reference numeral and comprises the coiler drive, sometimes sim ply referred to as a coiler 12, which in construction is similar to conventional prior art coilers includes a head 14 a base 16 and a vertical stand 18 which is a tube-like vertical housing in which is contained some of the vertical drive and drive transfer mechanism.

The coiler head 14 includes a housing 20 which may be removed and inside this housing is any conventional sliver delivery arrangement and including a drive means 22 including drive shafts 24, driving respective calendar rollers 26 feeding from a trumpet arrangement 28 into the open tube 30 which receives the sliver therein and exits it from the bottom of head 14. In the present arrangement, the entire head 14 and all of the coiling and sliver delivery mechanism therein is standard and any known coiler head may be used with the present coiler and sliver can.

The base of the present sliver can and drive arrangement is designated generally by reference numeral 16 and in the present embodiment includes a housing of semicircular formation having an open front and being substantially hollow on the interior and comprising a top 39, bottom 32, circular rear cover 34 and a circular front cover 36. Housing 16 supports several spaced guide and alignment rollers 38 mounted on respective pins 40 on the housing and also supports a drive gear 42 mounted on shaft 44 and driven by pinion gear 46 mounted on a shaft 48 and having an intermediate gear 50 thereon driven by a pinion 52 mounted on a vertical shaft 54 driven by a bevel gear 56 which is driven by another bevel gear 58 on a shaft 60 driven from an external power source not shown. Shaft 54 also extends upwardly through housing 18 and has a bevel gear 64 thereon driving another bevel gear 66 which is attached to shaft 24 driving the calendar rolls 26 to continuously drive the sliver. With this arrangement, when the power is on the shaft 60, the vertical shaft 54 is rotating and the sliver can drive gear 42 is rotated at the proper speed through the intermediate gear train comprising the previously mentioned gears 52, 50, 46 and the calendar rolls 26 are driven continuously by means of the bevel gear 64, 66 and the shafts 54, 24 respectively.

Also mounted on the semi-circular base 16 is a pair of toggle devices 70 of conventional construction and each comprising a bent toggle lever 72 mounted on a pin 74 and having a rubber roller 76 on one end and a cushioned contact portion 78 on the other end of lever 72 to be contacted by the bottom of the sliver can. A spring 79 has one end attached to the toggle lever 72 and the other end to the base 16 to tension the lever 72 and help hold it in place.

The sliver can is a conventional-type cylindrical can 80 having a closed bottom 82 and an open top 84 into which is coiled the sliver emitting from the tube 30 through the opening 86. Sliver can 80 detachably and removably rests inside a circular base designated generally by reference numeral 88 and comprising a circular band 90 to which is attached therea-bove and therearound the driven sliver can gear 92 which meshes with the drive gear 42 on the base 16 of the coiler drive 12. Base 88 has a bottom 94 on which is mounted a plurality of caster wheels 96 of conventional arrangement, there being three in the present embodiment. Each caster Wheel is freely movable in typical fashion characteristic of caster wheels and the entire can 80 with base 88 maybe wheeled readily in any direction manually about hte floor of the textile mill and is easily pushed into the open front of the base 16. A roller rim 97 on base 88 extends and projects over the top of base 16 and rests on ball bearings 100 in assemblies 102 therebeing several arranged both vertical and horizontal.

Each toggle device 72 pivots about the pivot pin 74 against the action of the spring 79 so that when the can base ring 90 is pushed against the cushion portion 78 on one end of the toggle lever 72 the spring is expanded and moved in such a fashion as to toggle the lever to bring the cushion roller 76 into engagement with the side of the can beyond the diameter of the can as it is inserted into the open base 16 thereby placing spring pressure against the ring 90 pushing the ring 90 and the base 88 with can 80 firmly toward the gear 42 which meshes with the gear 92 on the base 88. The alignment rollers 38 maintain the gears 42, 92 in proper mesh engagement and alignment by contact with the base 90 and the can 80 rotates at the desired speeds selected according to the gear train which includes gears 52, 50 and 46, to drive the can 80 at the desired speed beneath the coiler outlet 86 from which the sliver emits. Alignment rollers 38 may 'be as many in number desired and designed in any size or depth and spaced vertically and horizontally to contact any part of base 90 or even gear 92. Rollers 38 may be made from rubber, plastic and the like or covered with a cushion material.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention together with a suggested mode of operation, together with certain particular details, this is by way of illustration only and does not constitute any sort of limitation on the invention since various alterations, deviations, changes, substitutions, ramifications, eliminations, revisions, omissions, additions, and other changes of various nature including form and shape made therein without departing from the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sliver coiler device including a sliver can and drive therefor, and said can supported on a ground support, such as a fioor and away from said coiler device:

(a) a coiler base having a portion on each side extending in a direction generally around a sliver can supported for rotation therein, said base being open to permit the sliver can to be inserted therein without lifting same from the ground and said space in said opening in said base being unobstructed so that said insertion may be effected,

(b) a sliver can having ground support engagement means thereon whereby said can is manually moved over and in contact with the ground into position on said coiler base and without lifting the can,

(c) and can drive means on said base including a drive member engageable with and disengageable from said sliver can to turn same while in position on said base and supported on the ground support engagement means on the ground,

(d) said sliver can having a driven member thereon which engages said drive member when said can is positioned on said base,

(e) said drive member on said base is a gear and said driven member on said sliver can is a large gear extending around the periphery of the bottom thereof, and said drive gear and said driven gear around said can are forced into meshing engagement when said can is inserted into said base.

2. In a sliver coiler device including a sliver can and drive therefor, and said can supported on a ground support, such as a floor and away from said coiler device:

(a) a coiler base having a portion on each side extending in a direction generally around a sliver can supported for rotation therein, said base being open to permit the sliver can to be inserted therein without lifting same from the ground and said space in said opening in said base being unobstructed so that said insertion may be effected,

(b) a sliver can having ground support engagement means thereon whereby said can is manually moved over and in contact with the ground into position on said coiler base and without lifting the can,

(0) and can drive means on said base engageable with and disengageable from said sliver can to turn same while in position on said base and supported on the ground support engagement means on the ground,

(d) said sliver can has a projection thereon which projects over a portion of said base, and there being antifriction means on said base and which said projection may contact when said can is turning.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 9/1920 Great Britain. 4/1964 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

I. C. WADDEY, JR., Assistant Examiner. 

